The Guardian
by DustFur-SnowEar
Summary: Tony is not who he appears to be. Tasked since his birth over a century ago with maintaining the balance of the world with his Pack, Tony is one of the many Guardians left. But when he tells his team, they turn on him and Tony is left bereft and agonized at their betrayal. But slowly, he recovers and may even one day trust those he called a team. (Very slight x-over with Warriors)
1. Chapter 1

Long ago, when the earth was still in its infancy, chaos ruled the world. Tribes of men and women fought each other for what little the land had to offer them, and the animals were thin and skittish, making them near impossible to catch. For the longest time, it looked like the earth's presence in the universe would be short and violent.

The Old Gods, the Titans, watched this from afar and felt great fear and agony over the dark fate of the human race. Surely, such a race as brilliant as they could make a brilliant run of it in the end, if they were simply given a chance? For the longest time they fretted over a solution. And, in the end, it was a far simpler than they ever thought. What they needed was a guide, a group to help them through their rough existence.

Emberon, Tamer of the Wild Flames, drew forth lava from the deepest pits of the earth and from his hand sprang forth a mighty bird of flame and heat, screeching defiance and life to the sky. "My creation, and all who come after it, shall bring new life into the world. May their powers bring great joy to all those who witness them."

Frovaust, Shaper of the Icy Winds, drew a deep breath and, from his exhale came a dragon made of crystalline ice. "This creature, and all who come after, shall guide those who have died to a peaceful after life. May they perform their duties with solemnity."

Auqavereon, Gentler of the Screaming Rapids, carefully shaped the clear water of a spring, and from it brought forth a massive feline shape, maned and striped gorgeously and regally. "My guardian, and all who should follow after, will bring the necessary darkness into the world, so that those who reside in it may be strong enough to handle hardships. May they use their powers judiciously."

Lastly, Dustraevon, Treader of the Silent Paths, crushed one of the great boulders of a mountain between her hands, and from the dust was born a gorgeous wolf, solid and steady and massive, an implacable sentry. "My guardian, and all who come after, shall bring light and happiness into the world, to temper the darkness that is so required. May they take great joy in their work and may all those who bask in their hard work enjoy it as well."

And with that the Guardians left, and began their duties to the world, hardly ever crossing each others paths. And slowly, though the legends are vague, the number of Guardians grew, as the population did, until there were Clans of Guardians, all protecting the world, performing the tasks set before them centuries ago.

These were the stories Loki and Thor grew up, and stories they would share with their teammates on cold and dark nights. But they were naught but fairy tales, stories for young children, and most certainly unreal.

Until they weren't.

* * *

"You'll have to tell them eventually, you know that, right?" Tony turned around to see the familiar dark tawny shape of his mentor, Brackentail, creeping out of the mansion, paws silent on the sand near the deck. Tony sighed heavily, but nodded.

It had been a year since the Avengers had assembled to save the world, and a lot, and at the same time, almost nothing, had changed. The team had come together swimmingly and, with the addition of mind-control-free Loki, were a force to be reckoned with. They resided in the Tower in Manhattan, ready to save the city at a moment's notice. But Tony had been keeping from them his true heritage.

His pack, which made their home to the north, in the unpopulated frozen wastes of far northern Canada, was called by the others the Nor'Frost Pack, for their northern home and their love of the cold and snow. Tony had left the back some forty years ago for his Progress, his coming-of-age journey, and had decided to maintain a post in the human society. But now, with his close proximity to a group of super-humans, his secret was at risk.

"I know I do. I just...what if they think I'm some kind of monster? We look like werewolves to pop culture nuts. What if they think I'm going to go on a rampage and eat small children? What if they kick me off of the team? What if they _hurt me?" _ His voice was dangerously close to a wail and Brackentail slipped forward, slinging his arm around Tony's slim shoulders.

Tony had always been smaller than the other apprentices his age, faster than he was stronger, but viciously smart. His deep russet pelt, thick and soft with his northern heritage and his citrine eyes made him a sought after mate, but so far he'd yet to find the one, and, thankfully, those who had courted him before understood that.

Guardians mated for life, their pair-bonds not constrained by gender. Tony had only recently turned one hundred, his minority, and he knew with some satisfaction that other, slightly older, wolves would begin looking at him as a prospect now. Tony just wanted a mate who would share his nest and his prey, nothing extraordinary or over-the-top.

"We would _never _let them hurt you. You know that." Brackentail spoke with fierce protectiveness and Tony sighed. He knew his mentor would do everything in his considerable power from physically harming him. But nothing and no one would be able to stop the emotional pain he'd have to endure if they turned against him. Finally Brackentail sighed.

"Look, there's no way I'll ever be able to reassure you that everything will be alright. Be both know what might happen. And, while I can protect you from the physical harm that may befall you, I can only promise to be there for the emotional hurt, if it happens. Your pack will be there." Tony sighed and Brackentail rose.

"Now. Come back inside. The nest is cold without you."

* * *

When Tony finally decided to tell the Avengers, he called them into a large sparring gym, which was lined with thick mats. Thor and Loki were off-world for the day, and the rest of the team, plus Pepper, Coulson and Fury, sat in a semi-circle.

Tony knew that Brackentail, Lilypaw, Sharpclaw and his adoptive uncle Ivystar were waiting just one floor up for Jarvis to give them the all clear or the distress signal, ready to jump to his aid if need be. Tony took a deep breath and turned to the team, breathing a little shallow are he tried to clamp down on his nerves.

"I-I have something to tell you." He said haltingly and Clint made a vague "hurry up" motion with his hand. Tony was slightly annoyed by that, but took a deep breath anyway, the words rushing out of him before he could stop.

"I'm not human." The team was silent for a minute before Steve stood up, looking confused and unsure.

"You're not human? What do you mean? Like a mutant?" He asked. Tony knew Steve had spent a lot of time with the Fantastic Four and the X-men recently, trying to figure out how to best defend the city against attacks. Tony shook his head and Steve's face creased with confusion. "What do you mean then?"

Sensing no other way out, Tony concentrated hard, trying desperately to find the spark that made him a Guardian. When he found it he grabbed it and there was a flash of light that had the team reeling back and when the light receded, he flinched at their gasps. He was tall, despite his slim, fast build, and stood almost five feet at the ear-tips. There was silence, and then he spoke.

"I am a Guardian." Was all he said. And then the room was in chaos. Bruce was looking at him with sharp, scientist's eyes, while Natasha was gazing at him up and down, obviously assessing his threat level. Clint was shouting about Werewolves and Twilight and Steve just looked betrayed, staring at Tony's true form like he was some kind of specter, a shade of a friend past.

"What _are you_?!" Clint said and Tony tensed when he noticed they were all slipping into combat stances, like he would lash out and slice them at the slightest word. Tony felt the fur along his back rising despite himself, dread and his own betrayal seeping in.

"You can't actually think I would hurt you!" He shouted and moved to take a step forward, paw the size of a dinner plate just clearing the ground when Natasha pulled out one of her secret weapons, a knife, and lunged for him. Tony shot back, legs carrying him easily back a few yards from the rest of the team, citrine eyes wide. She would have gotten him clean in the face, possibly in the eye.

"You're not Tony." Pepper hissed and Tony's eyes widened some more. "Our Tony would never lie about something like this. You're an imposter. A freak of nature. A monster! What have you done with him?!" They were advancing on him slowly and Tony stepped back, trying to protect himself from the onslaught.

Before they could reach him Tony was overly relieved to hear the doors bang open on their hinges and the familiar sound of paws filled the air. Tony found himself ringed by a protective wall of muscle and fur, another sleek shape pressed into his side, murmuring quietly to him.

"All of you cease and desist this nonsense at once!" He recognized the deep timbre of Ivystar, accented from centuries of traveling the world, and he sighed in relief. The room, amazingly, fell silent at his command and Tony looked up when he felt eyes on him. Sharpclaw, a massive smoky colored brute was staring at him with concerned eyes.

"Are you alright, Rainpaw?" He asked and Tony nodded. He was crushed inside that his own team and Pepper, Pepper who had been at his side through thick and thin and almost dying, were turning on him. Tony could feel apart of himself hardening inside and he let go of the magic, allowing his human form to return. He strode forward, walls built up around him again and squeezed himself between Ivystar and Brackentail.

"Get out." He hissed, voice dripping venom. He didn't want them anywhere near him any more if they couldn't accept who he was.

"Get out!" He snarled when they didn't move. "Get out of this room. Get out of my tower. Get out of _my life _and never return. I thought I could trust you, I thought you were my friends. I was told humans were better than this, that they were befriending." He was breathing hard, the Arc Reactor working hard to keep up with it.

"I was told a _lie._" His voice cracked on the final word. Lilypaw and Sharpclaw moved forward once, fangs bared in warning and the team, and Fury and Coulson and Pepper dispersed, silent as ghosts. Tony was shaking hard and Lilypaw was back, trying to sooth him.

There was a silent span of a few minutes and when Jarvis told them that the team had left, Tony sucked in a deep breath. "Jarvis, activate protocol 67-FG-9." There was a quiet response and Brackentail nodded in understanding. The protocol was a last resort, shutting and locking down Tony's labs and homes and accounts, making them untouchable to _anyone _ save himself the world over. Tony had programmed Jarvis to activate it only at his command or the command of Brackentail himself, in the event of Tony's incapacitation or death. The rest of the patrol turned around and Tony took a few more minutes before he spoke, his voice was thick with unshed tears.

"Rockfoot was _right. _I should have listened to him. He told not to get attached to them. He was right." He said, wearily. Tony flinched as his breath snagged harshly in his chest, once, twice, and then darkness overcame him, and he was unconscious.


	2. Chapter 2

Ivystar whipped one massive foreleg out just in time and wrapped it about Tony's waist, preventing him from hitting the ground in his faint. He pulled his nephew closer, a discontent rumbling started deep in his chest as, with a few well practiced twists, he maneuvered Tony to lie on his stomach, draped over Ivystar's back, much like a cape.

The others were silent as ivystar led the wait out of the room, the only noise the clicking of their claws on the marbled floor of the hallway. Finally, Brackentail spoke, his voice a crack in the silence, despite his efforts to keep it down.

"What now, Sir? He can't stay here, can he?" Ivystar sighed, a full-bodied thing that moved massive shoulders and barrel chest. There was silence as they came to the door that opened onto the staircase for the roof, but finally, Ivystar spoke, his voice a thunder rumble.

"We bring him home, and we keep him safe. If he wants to keep working right away instead of continuing on as Iron Man, then we reassign him, somewhere far away from those...people." The last word was a hiss, full of venom. The others nodded, and Lilypaw opened the last door, which revealed the roof. Ivystar waited until the novice had closed the door and flipped the lock before he turned and nodded to the others.

With a rustle of fur and a gust of wind, in the place where once stood five Guardians, stood no one any longer.

* * *

The first thing the Avengers, plus Coulson, Fury and Pepper did when they were kicked out was reconvene at the Helicarrier. Faces drawn grimly they situated themselves at the large table in the middle of the Helicarrier. Once everyone was sitting, and they were still minus Thor and Loki, a stern looking man strode in, business written in every line.

He sat himself at a computer, stretched his fingers, and then began to type. The rest of the room had fallen silent, the tension in the air obvious and thick, and they watched the man as he continued his work. Ten minutes in, the man let out a sound of triumph, though their hopes were quickly dashed.

"Ah-oh _nonononoNO!_ Shit!" He cried out, the expletive harsh in the still of the air. The lights flickered, once, twice, and then went out completely, bathing the room in complete darkness, the window covers having been set down earlier. The screens came to life with static snow and then, in the midst of the room where the holotable was, a hologram of amazing proportions came to life.

It was a wolf, massive, done in red, and it seemed to stare straight through them before it spoke, it's voice robotic and without inflection.

**_"To the person and or organization who has attempted to breach the security of this mainframe, this is your one and only warning. Any further attempts to hack this code will result in swift and brutal retribution. As it were, your electrical power, everything not hooked up to a back up generator, will return in one hour and thirty-two minutes. You have been warned."_**

With that, the wolf vanished, and the room was left in utter darkness again. The team stared at each other, some faces pale, others drawn in anger, and then the emergency lights flickered on, dim compared to the fluorescence of earlier. Another moment of silence passed, before the sounds of voices drifted to them.

"Friends! What is the meaning of this darkness?!" Came Thor's easily recognizable boom and, behind, a softer voice.

"Brother do lower your volume. You're causing an echo in the hallway." There was a muttered "Apologies, brother." before the familiar shape of Thor and Loki, both still dressed in full regalia instead of their usual leathers, came into view. Thor looked consternation at their expressions, but Loki wore his usual mask of placid calm.

There was a moment of silence before Coulson spoke up. "Do you two know anything about something called 'Guardians'? Large, animal like creatures?" Both Thor and Loki's eyes widened in surprise and, when they spoke, it was Loki's voice, high with amazement and interest.

"The Guardians? Why, fairy tales, or so we were led to assume. Magnificent creatures of great power and influence, said to manipulate the ebb and flow of the entirety of Midgard. Why? Did you meet one? What did he look like? Was it a dragon? Or possibly one of the great cats?" And Loki was about to go off on a tangent but Coulson stopped him by holding up a phone.

On the screen was a picture, blurry, taken from the safety of his suit pocket. Both Thor and Loki let sounds of awe and wonder, breathy little exclamation of "Oh!" leaving Thor's throat in a show of uncharacteristic surprise.

"One of the wolves, fearsome warriors they are said to be. Mother called them 'Lightbringers', for legends says that, where they tread, so too shall good fortune, joy and goodwill." At their looks, he shrugged expansive shoulders. "My brother could better tell you the tales. They were favorites of both of ours, but he always had a better knack for remembering them."

The group turned to Loki, who nodded and gently lowered the lights with his hand. Across the table white light, interspaced with little pinpricks of light like stars, appeared, and Loki's voice filled the room, imbued with magic.

"Long, long ago, in a land not too far away..."

* * *

When Tony awoke next, it was to dark blue walls and soft gray carpet. He was lying on something soft, and he was warm, so comfortably warm he instantly knew he wasn't in the tower. It was heat that could only be achieved when he was in bed with one of his crechemates, snuggled into his side. They ran far warmer than a normal human, and Tony knew instantly by scent alone that it was Lilypaw and Snowpaw who was curled around him.

Snowpaw was a slightly older female, in the creche ahead of Lilypaw and himself, who'd comforted Tony when he was very young after his parents had died and shortly before he'd agreed to take up a permanent position among the humans. While Tony and his parents had sinuously insinuated themselves into human life, Tony had been greatly aggrieved when they were taken by the very human means of a fatal car accident.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, he lifted his head, briefly noticing fur instead of skin. He'd most likely shifted subconsciously in the middle of the night. Snowpaw and Lilypaw came awake in an instant and Tony gave them a small smile, thumped his tail once, twice, then tucked his nose under Snowpaw's chin, rumbling in discontent when she nipped one of his ears playfully.

Slowly, one by one, they stood and climbed out of the cushioned hollow in the ground, and Tony was amused to see if was his old nest in the great big house he'd built of the Pack way back when. The room was decorated warmly, meant to inspire peace after a hard day. They traipsed out the door and into the hallway and Tony breathed in the comforting scent of the pack.

The great house, done in the manner of a dorm, could house almost three hundred Guardians at any one time. With less than a third of that ever in the camp at one time, the place was almost always empty. Disguised by old magical wards, only those part of the Nor'Frost Pack could see it, and it remained unobtrusive to the Canadian wildlife, tucked into the back of a valley, in the shadow of two great hills.

Tony was aware of thick, plush grass underpaw and he sighed happily. Spring had always been his favorite time up here. Very mild, with a nice breeze almost at all times. The camp itself wasn't really a camp, more of a small collection of buildings, almost like a settlement. There was the great hall where everyone ate and shared the responsibility of preparing the food. The small office building where various and sundry paperwork was kept. The small medical building, because even beings of pure magic needed a booster shot every now and then.

The clearing in between all of these buildings was dotted with wolves of all sizes and colors and ages, playing or just sitting in the sun and shade, enjoying each others company. Tony wondered how many were out on assignment as they stood there, looking out over the place.

The legends had always been vague when it came to how the Guardians worked their magic. Everything from them being controlled by a pantheon of gods to they themselves controlling the world. Neither was correct. Humans shaped most of their lives themselves. But sometimes to get the ball rolling on something, Tony's pack, or the great cats or the Phoenixes had to step in to make something happen.

Most of the time, their job was simple. A snap of fingers there or a flick of the tail here and their target missed the bus that would have killed him in an accident, or ended up on the subway that got stuck in the tunnel, which led to...something or other.

So, more often than not, Tony could hear the quiet rustle of someone leaving off for an assignment somewhere, or reappearing with a smug look on their face.

Sometimes they were required to spend a long period of time amongst the humans, crafting some crazy happenstance that could lead to world change. Tony hated those assignments, and his last one had ended up with him being betrayed by people he had once called a team. He was going to avoid taking any long term postings for a s long as possible if he could.

The last thing the Guardians could be called for was the worst. natural disasters and wars were high traffic times for the four groups of Guardians. It would be all hands on decks if another hit, and Tony hoped Mother Nature, the spastic woman he's seen more than once wandering the world in a dress made of ferns, lays off the wrath for a little while. The Chitauri invasion had been a tough enough time for everyone involved already. They didn't need a tsunami or anything for at least a year.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, trying to push down on the feelings of regret and sadness that came with the thoughts of his team, he turned to look at Snowpaw, who was getting ready to lead him to the great hall for breakfast. He shook himself again and followed after her, Lilypaw at his side.

* * *

By the time that Loki and Thor were done retelling the story of the Guardians, most of the team were far past uncomfortable. They way Thor and Loki had told it, they'd made a terrible mistake, chasing off a harbinger of good, and, according to Thor, most likely dooming they and their families to a life of misfortune unless reparations could be made.

Fury stayed behind in the helicarrier to try and get everything up and running again, but the rest of them piled into the quinjet, which Clint flew steadily to the tower. It was a long trip, to them anyway until they were hovering near the top of the tower, ready to touch down.

Clint had just initiated landing protocols when a massive flood light flew on, almost blinding them, and even Thor, who was flying around outside the quinjet, reeled back from it. There was the sound of booted feet on concrete and they were shocked to see almost a dozen heavily armed and amored guards on the rooftop, weapons pointing towards them.

One stepped forward from his spot near the door and lifted a bullhorn to his mouth before he spoke. _"Attention SHIELD vehicle, you are not authorised to land here. Turn around now, or we will fire."_ He snarled through the horn. The others shared looks, but Loki seemed to understand.

"They're protecting his territory. Even if he's not there, it still belongs to Stark. No one who had harmed him would even be allowed near the doors, let alone inside the tower itself. Stark is probably long gone, and those men down there are probably the guards for the men that are cleaning out Tony's belongings."

Everyone turned to Loki waiting to see if he would have anymore input on the situation. There was a quiet moment before he spoke again.

"He's likely...trying to rid the memory of you from his soul. I would not be surprised if you never see him again. At least not in person."

No one knew what to say to that.


End file.
